Los Angeles residents are used to seeing high-speed car chases on the local news, but the coronavirus pandemic has changed everything ... so this will have to do.
A paddleboarder was arrested in Malibu Thursday after he disobeyed the Coast Guard's order to get out of the water ... according to law enforcement. We're told there were other people in the ocean who complied and paddled in, but the rogue paddleboarder just kept paddlin' ... so L.A. County sheriff's got in their patrol boat and zeroed in.
The man chose to stay in the water near the pier for more than 30 minutes before swimming to shore, where he was arrested for disobeying lifeguard warnings and violating California Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order, which is a crime.
The paddleboarder now faces a maximum of 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine for his stunt.
As we've reported ... beaches closed in L.A. last week after many residents simply couldn't stay home and comply with social distancing rules.
Besides that, a leading scientist warned that the SoCal ocean water is one of the riskiest places to be when it comes to catching coronavirus, but clearly ... some people still aren't scared.